Caretakers

Volusia County schools have several ways to combat crime on their property.They have a state-of-the-art security alarm system. They have police officers working with students. They train faculty and staff to fight crime.But some of the best weapons are caretakers who live in mobile homes on school property.Before Bill Hightower moved into a mobile home on the grounds of George Marks Elementary School in DeLand seven years ago, the school was being broken into at least once or twice a month.

A caretaker at an Osceola County group home was arrested Thursday after he admitted that he had sex with three teen girls he was trusted to look after. Domingo Sanchez, 37, of Kissimmee was fired this week after the Department of Children and Families told deputies that they suspected that he had raped the girls. When deputies arrived at his Kissimmee home to question him late Thursday night, Sanchez was expecting them and was ready to confess, his arrest report said. He admitted to having sex with a 13-year-old girl and two 17-year-old girls in his bedroom, their bedrooms and a bathroom in the group home.

Ruben ''Junior'' Scott sees nothing eerie about his job as gravedigger at Greenwood Cemetery in Eustis.''I told my wife when I got this job that I was finally where I wanted to be - over about 10,000 (people) and none of them complains about anything.''Some might see Scott's job as ghoulish and frightening. In reality, he said, it's the opposite, even on spooky days like today.Greenwood has rolling hills, carefully tended grass and shrubs, stately trees shading tombstones nearly 100 years old and gentle breezes.

Seminole County deputies arrested a man, hired to take care of a disabled elderly Heathrow man, after determining that he had broken his employer's window and ransacked a room, faking a burglary to cover a $910 theft. Lewis Klaiber, 24, of Apopka, was arrested Tuesday after admitting the theft, according to his arrest report. He had also called 911 and reported the burglary. Deputies became suspicious, however, when they noticed that much of the glass from the broken window was on the ground outside – as if someone had broken it from the inside.

Ron and Gureta Nusbaum wanted to move from Leesburg to Orlando.Jose and Gloria Garcia put their Orlando house on the market because they were moving back to New York.The two couples struck a deal. The Nusbaums are providing house-sitting services for the Garcias until their west Orange County house sells.But unlike typical house-sitting arrangements between friends or associates, the Nusbaums and Garcias never have met. The couples reached agreement through a new home-selling concept called caretaking.

IRVING A. BLOCK, 73, a painter who created special effects for dozens of low-budget horror films in the 1950s, died Saturday. The movies included The Forbidden Planet, Macabre, Kronos and The Caretakers.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Abusive caretakers who kill children they are physically mistreating will be charged with first-degree murder in Puerto Rico. Gov. Pedro Rossello signed a law last week increasing the penalty in cases where abuse kills children age 12 or younger. Caretakers will be charged with murder whenever a child dies from abuse, regardless of whether the death was intentional.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- Keiko, the killer whale that starred in the film Free Willy, may never be freed, his caretakers said Sunday. Even after more than 60 trips out of his pen, Keiko appears reluctant to rejoin wild killer-whale pods near his home at the Westman Islands, south Iceland. Keiko, who has been in captivity for most of his life, appears addicted to mankind, his caretakers said.

CHICAGO - Keeping a clean house can significantly reduce the amount of toxic lead that children absorb into their blood, a study has found. Researchers followed 99 urban children with high levels of lead in their blood for nine to 15 months after dividing their families into two groups. In one group, the children's caretakers received education and free housecleaning to reduce lead levels in their homes; in the other, caretakers received education only. Cleaning removed dust containing lead particles, presumably from peeling paint, the study in the March issue of Pediatrics said.

- Because of incorrect information supplied to a reporter, the telephone number for Caretakers of America, a house-sitting service, was not correct in the Nov. 25 Homes section. The numbers are (407) 896-6314 or (800) 562-3552.

A 47-year-old Texas man was arrested Friday on neglect charges after Orange County deputies say he left an adult with the mental capacity of a child alone in a hotel room while he spent nearly six hours at Walt Disney World. Hotel staff contacted Mohsin Mirza after maintenance workers found water seeping out of a room in the Marriott Grand Vista resort near Orlando. A worker opened the hotel room door and found the disabled victim inside with water overflowing from a clogged sink onto the tile floor.

A Volusia County man was sentenced to 30 years in state prison Tuesday after pleading no contest to attempted first degree murder charges in October. Michael Anselmo, 64, was accused of stabbing his roommate's caretaker outside his Holly Hill home in June. A man and his son were playing golf nearby and came to her rescue. The female victim was in court for Anselmo's sentencing Tuesday. She did not speak in court but she did write a statement saying she would have been killed had the father and son not stepped in. dstennett@tribune.com or 407-420-5447

An 85-year-old Hagerstown woman whose home was entered by officials last April to remove 41 cats was found not competent to enter a plea on animal cruelty charges, but her son and live-in caretaker was fined nearly $6,000 on Tuesday in Washington County District Court. Roger Mills, 50, of 40 Charles St., was sentenced to pay $5,705 in restitution to the Humane Society of Washington County over a three-year period and serve a suspended jail term of 75 days by Judge R. Noel Spence.

An elderly Seattle woman who had survived the Holocaust lost a large sum of money after her caregiver allegedly stole $50,000 and jewelry from her while she was purportedly providing care for them, police said. Mary Celeste Park, 54, was charged with first-degree theft after Seattle police detectives investigated claims that she had stolen money and other items from Hermine and Emanuel Berner. The Berners' daughter, Judy Townsend, had hired Park in February to assist with providing her parents, Hermine, who is 91, and Emanuel, who is 97, with daily tasks such as cooking, driving them to doctor's appointments and taking them outside for walks.

The Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse was saved decades ago by a tenacious woman from Alabama who wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Virginia Ann Caneer brainstormed, organized, encouraged, volunteered and fought to save the aging building that had become a target for vandals in the 1970s. The building is now a National Historic Landmark and tourist destination, safe from the vandals and disrepair. A replica of that famous tower will mark her grave at the Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville, Ala., where she was laid to rest last month.

An Orlando woman was arrested Wednesday on charges of exploiting and defrauding an 83-year-old for whom she was caring, police said today. Mary Archambault, 57, stole more than $90,000, said Sgt. Vince Ogburn, a police spokesman. She was arrested at her home on a warrant by officers from the department's fugitive unit. Archambault was released from the Orange County Jail, where she was briefly held on charges of exploitation of the elderly, third-degree grand theft and scheme to defraud.

I work daily with elementary-school children whose mouths drop open when I suggest that the violence they routinely experience in their homes isn't normal and, furthermore, they have the right to be free from that violence. Children think they are powerless to stop the violence directed at them by parents or caretakers who don't know better, but they admit they can at least stop playing the video games that can be won only by killing their opponents. And when I suggest that they can give themselves nearly seven hours of relief each day at school simply by choosing peaceful behaviors, they jump at the opportunity to create a sanctuary.

In India, okra is called ''lady fingers.''Pregnancy is the No. 1 reason females aged 15 through 20 go to doctors. Reason 2: Pimples.The more wildflowers you plant along the roadside, the less people tend to throw litter. The governmental caretakers say they've found that out.In ancient Chester, England, a murderer was fined 10 shillings for the killing if it occurred on a weekday, 20 shillings if on Sunday.No land animal has bigger eyes than the ostrich.

Police say 49-year-old Thomas Clifton Wilkes planned to murder his caretaker for a week before he struck on Thursday morning, stabbing and strangling her repeatedly in her home. The reason, he told police: She nagged him and wouldn't let him get his cable television service repaired. She also had a foreign accent that was difficult for him to understand. According to a police report, Wilkes called 911 about 9:40 a.m. Thursday to report that he had stabbed his caretaker, 60-year-old Justina Threadgill, at her home on Ruthbern Road in Daytona Beach.